Of Strawberries and Oranges
by anyandeveryanime
Summary: Just a little Ichigo x Renji fluff fic - my attempt at describing their relationship. May become a companion fic to a one or two shot (likely named Intrinsically). Rated T for brief mentions of sex.


_**Of Strawberries and Oranges**_

* * *

_**This may be a companion fic to a one or two-shot. Ichigo x Renji, obviously. Please ignore my mistakes. This is unbeta'd and written in the wee hours of the morning, (3:07am, actually) so I would not be surprised at all if this is ignored. I wrote this, though, as an attempt to get back into writing. Also, the first few IchigoxRenji fics I read were... Underwhelming, to say the least. They did not even begin to come close to expressing the beauty found in this pairing. What many authors forget in writing relationships is that each person has to be developed individually before they can be connected with another, especially in such a way as love. And I did not see this at all in what I saw. (By the way, this is in no way insult to these authors. I recognize that I too was a newbie once, and that I had no clue as to any of this either. But nonetheless, that does not excuse a complete and utter lack of plot, dialogue, character development, or any of the elements that make a story a /story/. Basic grammar and spelling are kind of a must when writing as well...)**_

_**But I digress. I set to remedy this. Oh! I have not forgotten Daughter of a Hitman, nor am I abandoning it, by the way. I apologize for a lack of updates. I've had serious personal issues to deal with, and I had to put many other things first before my writing, unfortunately. So... Yeah.**_

_**Please enjoy this for those of my fans in the Bleach fandom... Even if you aren't in this fandom, try thinking of the Gajeel x Laxus pairing from Fairy Tail, another of my favorites. They are very alike, but different, as well, and both dominating personalities. That's the best comparison I can come up with. ^.^ I love you all, dear readers... I hope you will forgive me for almost leaving you permanently since my last update. I am trying, I assure you, to balance my life more.**_

_**Please tell me in a review whether or not you would like more of this pairing (and more of this fic series in the making), or you can request another. If I am familiar with the fandom, I'll try my best. Or just a prompt. That works too.**_

* * *

They were hot and bright, like two stars that had collided together somewhere on the path bestowed upon them by fate.

They were hard and rough too, passion and fiery personalities clashing and melding together - yet somehow, they met in the middle without overpowering one another.

They were once enemies.

They turned into rivals...

And somewhere along the line, they became friends.

Somewhere after that, they became a bit more than even _nakama_.

No one could really tell where it started; but after so long at the other's throat, (first in one way - and then in another way entirely, though that is a story for another time) they realized they rather liked being there, and decided that was where they belonged.

_Together._

They are cut from the same cloth, these two. Their souls are most irrevocably intertwined - of this, no one could deny.

They fought for justice. Whether it was against Hollows, Menos Grande, Aizen, or even against discrimination later on in their relationship, they fought side by side, trusting that the other would have their back.

Their kisses were rough.

The sex was even rougher.

It was a fight, a battle of wills between two strong men that never, under any circumstances, backed down. And they were fine with that. Because this was how they loved. As deep as the hidden strength they each possessed, this love ran - with a roaring devotion and a fiery tide of adoration and respect, they learned to surrender, but never submit. And that was fine with them.

But others didn't always get this. Orihime was, surprisingly enough, _adamant_ against them. She couldn't see past the now-playful jibes and the causal bickering to the true softness belying their eyes and tone. She couldn't see, perhaps _wouldn't_ see, and didn't even attempt to understand.

But that was alright too, though it hurt, because they had one another.

And that was more than enough.

Like strawberries and oranges, Renji and Ichigo collided violently. Yet they blended, too, harmoniously and beautifully, with a tinge of overwhelming sweetness behind the at first bitter and estranged impression.

This was how they loved. It was much the same as how they fought... But they understood one another on a deeper level than anyone really realized. They knew each other's strengths and weaknesses in battle and out of it, and knew the other's insecurities and doubts intrinsically. Words of love now flowed and were as easily spoken as words of hate once were.

Ichigo traced Renji's tattoos with the same reverence Renji had as he ran his sword-calloused fingers through that unmistakably sunset-colored hair.

It was understood.

It made sense.

They knew each other better than anyone else, from body to soul, between mind to heart - and all the way back again.

And those who dared to raise question against this bond were rudely awakened as the men retaliated as true warriors would.

So is their relationship volatile? Of course it is, and was especially so at the beginning. Violent? Most definitely so. Explosive and passionate and aflame with untidy emotions? Yes, yes, and yes. But _they made it work._

And for that, fortune smiled upon them.

This is love; as insurmountable and unmanageable as life itself, alive with strife and stress and anger. Yet the trick is to find beauty in all of this... And they found it in one another.


End file.
